How to Pay Corporation Franchise Tax Online

Harvard Business Services, Inc. offers a convenient online filing service for both corporations and LLC annual franchise tax payments. This service is available to any Delaware company, regardless of whether or not Harvard Business Services is your current Registered Agent.

Below you will find a step-by-step tutorial for the process of filing Delaware corporation annual report and Franchise Tax. In order to get started, you will need the company name and the official state of Delaware file number. Once you have both of these details, visit our Franchise Tax payment page.

Ready to pay your corporation Delaware Franchise Tax online?

Here are the steps:

On our payment page, enter your Delaware File Number (a seven digit number that typically begins with 0, 2, 3, 4 or 5) and exact company name. For example, if the name of the company is The Great Company, Inc., please make sure to enter it exactly as it appears on your official paperwork, rather than just Great Company Inc.

You will need to provide us with some of your contact information, in case we need to ask you any questions. Enter your first and last name (in the specified boxes), telephone number and email address twice (for verification). Please note that none of these details are part of the public record and will not be sold, rented or given out to any third party.

You will then be asked if you are paying the Franchise Tax for an LLC/LP. This tutorial is specifically for the corporation Franchise Tax, so check the box "No" and continue to the next item.

Provide the Principal Place of Business, which is the physical street address where the company is located. This address can be anywhere in the world, but it cannot be a PO Box or the address of Harvard Business Services, Inc. (even if you utilize our Mail Forwarding service). Remember, if your business is based entirely online, you still must provide a physical address at which your company receives mail. Click Continue to Next Page.

The next section requires the Directors' information. You will need to provide the names and addresses of all of your corporation's current Directors. The address you list can be the business or personal address of each person. For each Director, simply enter the first and last name in the designated boxes and then the street address (again, you cannot use a PO Box or our address) and click “Add Director.” Then continue to enter each additional Director’s information until you have included everyone you'd like to include. The details you entered will be listed for your review; once you have verified all the information, click the Continue to Next Page button.

It's possible that the Directors of your company may not yet have been elected. In this situation, just check the box “If you do not have any Directors please check here” and you will automatically move on to the next page.

Here you will need to provide the details of one (1) officer of your corporation. While your corporation may have several officers with different titles, you need only list one person. Decide which officer you would like to list and enter his/her full name and address. You also need to choose his/her appropriate title from the drop-down menu. Your options are President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, CEO, or CFO. When this is completed, click the Continue to Next Page button.

In some cases, the officers of the company may not have yet been elected. Again, just check the box “If you do not have any officers please check here” and you will automatically move on to the next page.

Depending on the type of stock structure your company has, you may be asked for additional information at this point. The majority of companies will automatically move on to the next page. However, a maximum stock company (any entity that has over 5,000 authorized shares) will need to enter the following details:

Total issued shares;

Total gross assets

Asset date (typically December 31)

If needed, the number of issued shares information can typically be found in the company’s stock transfer ledger. Total gross assets does not mean the profit or loss of the company, but specifically those assets stated on the federal income tax return (page 1, Schedule L).

After you have entered these details, click the Recalculate Franchise Tax button. The online system will automatically calculate your Franchise Tax Fee under both of the methods Delaware allows. You will be shown the amounts due under the two methods; however, you will only pay the lesser amount. Click Continue to Next Page.

On this page, you should review all the details you have entered thus far in order to ensure your information is correct. If you need to make any changes, click the Edit button next to the incorrect detail and you will be directed to the specific page so you can correctly re-enter the information. If all the information is accurate, click Save and Continue.

If you are a current client of Harvard Business Services, Inc., the due date of your pending Registered Agent bill will appear. If you wish to renew this service for another year, you can check the box. Otherwise, you will receive a bill for the Registered Agent service at a future date.

Here is where you will need to make payment arrangements. You will see a breakdown of the total amount due for your Franchise Tax Fee and filing fees. You will need to enter your credit card details or, if you prefer to pay with your existing PayPal account, click the appropriate button. You will then be re-directed to the PayPal website for further processing.

Before this process can be completed, the order needs to finalized by an Authorized Person, so an Authorized Person's name, title (choose from the drop-down menu) and address should be entered. For example, if an annual report lists Holly White as a Director and Rachel Black as the President, then Mary Green is not authorized to file and sign the annual report as Secretary, since she was not listed.

You are done! You will soon receive a separate email containing a summary of the information you submitted as well as a receipt for the services. Harvard Business Services, Inc. will begin processing your documents with the state of Delaware. Once the Franchise Tax filing has been approved by the state of Delaware,we will send you an additional email confirmation indicating that everything has been completed.

If you have any questions as you are filling out the online form, please feel free to call us at 1-800-345-CORP.

Disclaimer

THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG ARTICLE IS NOT A LAWYER AND HARVARD BUSINESS SERVICES, INC. IS NOT A LAW FIRM. THE ARTICLE ABOVE IS NOT INTENDED AS LEGAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS SHORT ARTICLE IS STRICTLY TO MENTION SOME ASPECTS OF DELAWARE’S CORPORATION LAWS AND/OR LAWS RELATING TO OTHER FORMS OF ENTITIES WHICH YOU MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH. WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU CONSULT WITH A LAWYER BEFORE FORMULATING A STRATEGY WHICH WILL BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SPECIFIC CASE.

Disclaimer: Harvard Business Services, Inc. is a document filing service that provides general information. We cannot render legal or financial advice and your use of this site is subject to additional terms and conditions. HBS is not affiliated with Harvard University nor the state of Delaware.